Of Maus And Fighting Men!

"Young people want to learn, they are thirsty for knowledge, they want to understand and remember." - Elie Wiesel

Art Spiegelman's Maus has been on the racks for nearly forty years. It was one of the most important early attempts by any comic creator to do something profound in the then new longform of the graphic novel. I have owned a copy of it since the early 90's and have shoved it in the face of my daughters, not for a moment thinking they might be so sensitive as to be confused by naked mice. Maus is a dynamic memoir that presents and reflects on the Holocaust, the intentional attempt by the Nazi regime to obliterate the Jews from the planet Earth. To that end they dehumanized them, arrested them, transported them, hanged them, shot them, and gassed them with a brutal efficiency and coldness of spirit that still haunts the soul. The recent furor over the teaching of Maus in a Tennessee middle school has brought Spiegelman's great artistic work to the fore once again and reminds us all yet again that we must be vigilant. 

As it turns out comics have been quite outspoken about the Holocaust as revealed in the book We Spoke Out - Comic Books and the Holocaust. The stories in this outstanding collection will be represented during the weekdays here at the Dojo. There are many different stories from many decades by a wide range of creators both famous and ignored. 

On the weekends I will take a closer look at some graphic novels which have used the Holocaust as the setting. One of the greatest of these is Yossel, April 19, 1943 by the great Joe Kubert. 

And on two additional Saturdays look for reviews of Spiegelman's epic. I will devote a day each to both Maus I and Maus II. The furor over these two stunning tales only makes me more eager to revisit these tragic tales. It was a terror for those who lived it and Spiegelman's works make for compelling engagement with this awful subject. No school should shrink from exposing their students to the ugly truths of our history in a necessary effort to make sure atrocities never reoccur. 

Also up is a closer look at one of the very best comic books to draw a chilling picture of a more modern Fascist horror -- V for Vendetta by Alan Moore and David Lloyd. I'm finding I need to reread this magnificent work every few years to focus my attention and gird my loins given the dark changes in the world around us all. 

And speaking of atrocity I will also spend a few days on the blood-chilling subject of nuclear war. It was once front of mind for all of us, people who feared a nuclear rain would inevitably fall one day. I'll take a look at some speculative atomic attacks and some all too real ones as well. 

But as awful as war is, there can be other aspects of human nature which are revealed in the terrifying stress of combat. Few express those more noble sentiments better than does Robert Kanigher's and Joe Kubert's Enemy Ace about the exploits of a German air ace in the tragically ironically named "War to End All Wars". Look for this in this month's "Showcase Corner". 

"The Sunday Funnies" feature will take a gander at a completely different sort of mouse -- Mickey Mouse. The iconic success of Walt Disney's Mickey Mouse is likely among the reasons that Spiegelman chose mice and other critters to populate his reflection on the Holocaust. I want to take a look at Mickey's earliest comic strip adventures from the 1930's as rendered by his greatest creator Floyd Gottfredson. We might even sneak in a peek at the Sunday color version too if we have time, but we'll see about that. 

And to wrap up our month-long examination of Hitler's horror, we'll celebrate his demise and the end of his wretched Reich with a stunning array of comic book covers that makes sure that old Adolph gets it on the chin among other things. With the ruthless aggression demonstrated by Russia led by Putin in the daily headlines, attention to the many land-grabbing despots of the 20th Century seems an apt occupation. All this and maybe a smidge more this month of March. 

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